Breakdown of Le mani degli uomini custodiscono questo rito.
l'uomo
the man (m)
questo
this (masculine)
gli
the
di
of, from
Questions & Answers about Le mani degli uomini custodiscono questo rito.
If we wanted to express that men have been continuously guarding this rite from the past up to now, how could we use the lesson's target grammar?
You could replace the present tense custodiscono with the aspectual periphrasis vengono custodendo. The sentence would become Le mani degli uomini vengono custodendo questo rito, which emphasizes a continuous action passed down through history to the present day.
A quick refresher on le mani: why does a feminine article pair with a word ending in -i?
Why is the verb conjugated as custodiscono rather than custodono?
The infinitive is custodire (to guard or protect). It belongs to the group of -ire verbs that require the -isc- infix before the regular endings in the present tense for all singular forms and the third-person plural (loro).
What is tricky about the formation of degli uomini?